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Tim Rosa remembers the day he realized his true calling.
When he was Chief Marketing Officer at Fitbit, the wearable fitness tracker, he pored over emails, forum posts and support logs. There, he discovered heartwarming stories from customers—one said the product had helped him detect a heart problem, and another said it helped him reverse type two diabetes and finally get pregnant.
“I would literally cry reading these stories,” says Rosa. “From then on, I knew my purpose was to help people by doing good and creating beautiful products and services that improve lives.”
Today, Rosa is the CEO of Somneea pioneering neuroscience-based sleep company whose flagship product is a neurostimulation device that helps users fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer, and improve overall sleep quality. Rosa wants to improve life by solving one of the most basic human needs: quality sleep.
Rosa is this week's guest on A Day with the Jon Bier Podcast. In the interview, he talks about his journey from being a marketing executive at ESPN, 2K Sports (launching the NBA 2K series) and Fitbit, working so hard he often slept under his desk, to discovering the value of sleep. later in life and channeling that passion into Somnee.
He also imparts valuable wisdom he has gained in business over the years.
Build brands that 'win hearts and minds'
“The most important thing is to be absolutely obsessed with understanding your customer,” says Rosa.
At Somnee, this first meant digging deep into customer feedback, engagement metrics, support logs, qualitative/quantitative research, and getting to know his customers' needs on a personal and emotional level.
“By putting the customer and the brand at the center of building your company, he says, you can use that as a guide to help inform your decisions.”
That said, the customer only knows what they know. To be innovative as a leader and introduce pioneering new products, experiences or features, you still need to take some calculated risks, especially as a challenger brand or category creator.
“The reality is, whether you're in a consumer business, enterprise business or healthcare, at the end of the day, someone on the other end wants to use your product, buy your product, consume your product,” he says. . “Your job is to win their heart and win their mind. Period.”
Related: 5 Proven Strategies to Retain Your Best Customers
Recognize personal struggles as potential business opportunities
When venture capitalist Vinod Khosla and UC Berkeley sleep scientist and author of Why We Sleep, Dr. Matt Walker, first approached Rosa about Somnee, he was dealing with serious sleep issues.
He had experimented with magnesium supplements, CBD and THC, but found no relief. Rosa looked at Somnee's website and found the company's product confusing, which frankly left him skeptical, but he decided to try the product himself for 14 days before committing to the CEO position.
“They sent me a device and I went through the ride. By my third session, I fell asleep with the device on and was amazed that it really worked. But I felt the brand, product, website and service needed to be elevated to reflect the innovation.” incredible behind science and technology.”
He realized they were onto something special. If Somnee could help someone with sleep problems like him, the rest would be history.
Embrace the power of personalization
One of the key innovations behind Somnee's technology is its focus on personalization. Rosa explains that their patented “closed loop” product uses a comfortable sleep headband with an electroencephalogram (EEG) that reads your brain waves to understand individual patterns for optimal sleep. This is the same technology used in some of the most advanced sleep labs in the world.
“Brain language is basically electrical frequency,” he explains. “We set a baseline using the EEG sensor. Once we've done that, our AI models then apply gentle, personalized neurostimulation at the optimal frequency that's specific to you. This helps calm and prepare your brain for sleep. We reduce the time to sleep by 50% and improve the overall quality of sleep.”
Rosa argues that this personalized, closed-loop approach is the future of consumer health technology and wellness products—it's no longer just about tracking your sleep, but actually regulating it.
Apply the 'Rule of 3' to simplify complex business challenges
Throughout his career, Rosa has relied on the power of triple thinking to tackle complex problems and communicate effectively.
“I think in three. What are the three things you will do to win?” – explains Rosa.
This “Rule of 3” applies to everything from product development to customer communication. He says this helps him simplify strategies and prioritize actions.
Rosa uses this principle to prioritize and build its MVP (Minimum Viable Product). By focusing on the three most critical aspects, Rosa ensures that his team stays focused and avoids getting lost in unnecessary details.
Use partnerships and data to create powerful ecosystems
Drawing from his experience at Fitbit, Rosa emphasizes the importance of creating customer personas and cultivating ecosystems around your product and customer needs. He envisions Somnee eventually releasing an API and working with other device and service companies to create a more comprehensive health tracking ecosystem.
“I see wearables, human performance services and healthcare as strategic partners,” explains Rosa. “I want to help facilitate an ecosystem of partner products and services that use our clinical-grade datasets to help others. Good data is good data.”
Rosa's journey from sleep-deprived marketing executive to sleep technology innovator has been rewarding in many ways, but he says the most impactful moments have been hearing from his customers. Like Fitbit, Somnee is helping people and changing lives.
It tells the story of a Vietnam veteran suffering from Insomnia and PTSD who was addicted to sleeping pills and slept only 3.5 hours a night. After using Somnee for 30 days, he is now up to 7 hours and has made the 15-minute Somnee session part of his nightly sleep routine.
Or when Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff sent Tim an email saying how much he loves Somnee because it has dramatically improved his sleep and well-being, so much so that his wife is now using Somnee as well.
“It reinforces my purpose, which is to help people, to help them perform and to help them live a better life by putting really good products into the world that actually make an impact,” Rosa says. .